b. 14/01/1840 Waynesburg, Ohio. d. 19/12/1925 McComb, Ohio.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 04/1862 Big Shantry, Georgia.
William Bensinger MOH
Bensinger was born on January 14, 1840 in Waynesburg, Ohio and enlisted into the 21st Ohio Infantry at Hancock County, Ohio. He was among a group of Ohio men (19 soldiers and 2 civilians) who volunteered to participate in a secret mission to disrupt Confederate communication. In April the group, led by James J. Andrews, which later came to be called Andrews’ Raiders, boarded a train in Georgia. On April 12th, after the train had stopped in Big Shanty, they commandeered the train’s engine and three boxcars and headed towards Chattanooga, Tennessee. Under pursuit from the Confederates, they destroyed track and telegraph lines along the way. They never made it to Chattanooga but abandoned the engine. They were all captured within a week. Some of the men were hanged and Bensinger, among others, was taken to prison camp. He eventually escaped and arrived in Washington, D.C. He was presented with his Medal of Honor on 25 March 1863 in Washington DC, by the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. He later moved to McComb, Ohio, where he died on 19 December 1925, aged 85.
MOH CITATION:
One of the 19 of 22 men (including 2 civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Mitchell (or Buell), penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., in an attempt to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanooga and Atlanta.
BURIAL LOCATION: MCCOMB UNION CEMETERY, MCCOMB, OHIO.
1st ADDITION, ROW 2, GRAVE 11
LOCATION OF MEDAL: MCCOMB PUBLIC LIBRARY (1896 & 1904 DESIGNS), MCCOMB, OHIO.
